Camarillo's Bryans reach Australian Open final again

Camarillo twins secure shot at Grand record

Bob Bryan of the United States of America plays a forehand in his doubles semifinal match with Mike Bryan of the United States of America against Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania during day eleven of the 2012 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 26, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia.

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Ohbaby, Camarillo's Bob and Mike Bryan are making the pursuit of their record-breaking 12th Grand Slam title extremely memorable.

Staging a dramatic third-set comeback, the top-seeded Bryans rallied to beat No. 7 Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) on Thursday afternoon in Melbourne to reach the Australian Open men's doubles final for the fourth straight year.

The Bryans will try to capture their fourth straight Aussie Open title and sixth in the last seven years when they play either No. 2 Max Mirnyi-Daniel Nestor or Leander Paes-Radek Stepanek in Saturday's final.

A victory would give the Bryans the career record for Grand Slam men's doubles titles. The 33-year-old identical twins are tied with Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge with 11.

Even without the record at stake, this major attempt was assured to be much more emotional than usual.

Bob is expecting his first child — daughter, Micaela — on the day of the doubles final. His wife, Michelle, gave him her blessing to travel to Australia while she stayed behind in Miami.

"She's on bed rest now. She's not getting out of bed," Bob said. "We're down to the finish line. It's crunch time. She turned (the match) off in the third set because she was starting to feel a couple small contractions."

It's no wonder considering how deep the Bryans had to dig to avoid elimination in Rod Laver Arena.

The Bryans saved a match point at 6-5 in the third set when Mike hit a volley winner, and trailed 5-2 in the tiebreaker.

But the Bryans won the last five points of the match to secure their eighth appearance in the Aussie Open final in the last nine years.

"We played kind of our best tennis at the very end," Mike said. "They're a big-serving team. It's tough. I thought they played well. We played them before. That's definitely the best they've played against us."

As the Bryans fought to stay alive, little Micaela began moving furiously in her mother's stomach. Michelle decided to turn off the television, sit quietly in another room and wait for her sister to call and tell her the end result.

"Thank God I didn't watch that tiebreak," Michelle said. "It's amazing what they have been able to accomplish down there. I'm so proud of Bob for holding it together mentally. It's hard going through these past few weeks of pregnancy by myself, but knowing that he's in the finals reaffirms the fact that it was so worth it."

As he prepares for a Grand Slam final weekend unlike any other, Bob is hoping his daughter can wait until daddy is done playing in Australia to arrive.

He provided his wife with a small piece of advice to help delay the process.

"I've been telling her, 'Don't watch the matches, it will get your heart rate going and you might spit that baby out,'" he said. "It's going to be tight the next couple of days, especially with the nerves."